


the bite that binds

by blackglass, sabinelagrande



Series: wolf like me [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Community: pod_together, F/M, Paternity, Post-Canon, Pregnancy, Soundscapes, Werewolf Percy de Rolo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26309962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackglass/pseuds/blackglass, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabinelagrande/pseuds/sabinelagrande
Summary: And one day, the Wolf has a son. Or Percy does. But definitely Vex.[Podfic AND story text within]
Relationships: Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia, Vex'ahlia & Werewolf Percy de Rolo III
Series: wolf like me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1911820
Comments: 1
Kudos: 63
Collections: Pod_Together 2020





	the bite that binds

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to [when the moon is round and full](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15333522), a project from Pod Together 2018, and it's best to listen to that first.

  
  
Cover art by: [Frea_O](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Frea_O)  


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[mp3 w/ music (LQ)](https://blackglass.parakaproductions.com/podfic/the%20bite%20that%20binds.mp3) | [mp3 w/ music (HQ)](https://blackglass.parakaproductions.com/podfic/the%20bite%20that%20binds%20\(hq\).mp3)  
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****

****

Vex's time with the Wolf is an escape. There is so much in her life now, in a way that she likes; it honestly pleases her to cultivate Whitestone's diplomatic relationships or spend time with the children. This is the life that she was always meant to have, as improbable as it seems. That doesn't mean she doesn't miss the hunt, the scent of the forest, the freedom of spending all night under the moon in the woods that she loves.

She and the Wolf know each other well now. Vex couldn't hope to have a better hunting partner; maybe that's unfair to Trinket, who still comes out with her occasionally in between being spoiled or used as a pillow by the children. But Trinket is her companion, an extension of herself, only ever as good as she is. The Wolf is something else entirely, someone- or something- who knows what hunting _means_.

All she has to do is walk out into the forest with her bow and her broom, and the two of them can do nothing all night but track and catch.

The Wolf is pacing in the clearing where they usually meet. Vex has pointed out to Percy that they could just go there together, but Percy is self-conscious about her seeing him in the moment of transformation. Vex thinks he's still self-conscious about the Wolf in general, but that she can't help.

"Hello, darling," Vex says warmly. She's so glad she could grease the right palms and find the right wizard to have Speak With Animals made permanent; it takes away at least that barrier to communicating with the Wolf. They don't always need to speak, avoiding it when silence is advantageous, but it's nice to be able to not worry about the spell wearing off or needing to concentrate on something else. "What do we hunt tonight?"

The Wolf pads towards her, looking at her keenly, even more so than usual. He's sniffing, like he's scenting the air. _"You are gravid,"_ he says.

"Oh," Vex says, her eyes going wide. A billion thoughts crash into her head at once. She and Percy have been trying, recently, preparing for number three, or perhaps numbers three and four, and she's had a suspicion. She is elated to hear it, if it's true, but deeply confused as to why the Wolf thinks he can tell. "How would you know that?"

Either way he's circling around her, now sniffing her up close. _"I can smell it on you."_

"Well," Vex says, not even sure if that's a thing wolves can do, even though the Wolf is not really a wolf. "Then I'm afraid Two-Feet did it again."

 _"No,"_ the Wolf says, and now his snout is almost pressed against her stomach.

"No?" Vex says, frowning in confusion over the way he's acting. "What do you mean, no?"

 _"This is not Two-Feet's child,"_ the Wolf says, before he presses his muzzle against her belly and breathes in.

"Excuse me?" Vex says indignantly. She won't have anyone accuse her of infidelity, up to and including a giant magical wolf.

 _"This is_ my _pup,"_ the Wolf says, sounding- not pleased exactly, not more proud than normal, but as if it is right and good that Vex is-

"Hold on," Vex says, and she puts her hands on his massive head and gently pushes him back. "What is that supposed to mean?"

 _"Your other children are human,"_ the Wolf says, putting disdain on the last word in a way that makes Vex narrow her eyes. They aren't, and also they're her children. _"This one is not. This one will live like Two-Feet, but it will be my son."_

"Oh," Vex says. She takes a step back, overwhelmed. She suddenly feels lightheaded. "I- I think I need to sit down."

The Wolf nudges her towards a nearby fallen log, being uncharacteristically solicitous. _"Don't fall, hunter."_

"I guess you would, oh, I don't know, be invested in that now," Vex says, still in shock.

 _"I will protect my young,"_ the Wolf says.

Vex sits down, rubbing her temple. "So you- you know that Percy's- that my- that the child will be-"

 _"A wolf,"_ the Wolf says, with the kind of forthrightness that Vex would expect from him.

"So my child- he's going to be cursed," Vex says, without thinking about how the Wolf might feel about being called a curse.

 _"Yes,"_ the Wolf says. _"Cursed to live in human skin."_

There is a lot to unpack about that statement, but Vex has other, more pressing questions. "And you're sure about this? Truly?"

 _"Blood knows blood,"_ the Wolf says. He looks frustrated at her response. _"Do you want a child?"_

"Yes, of course," she says.

 _"Then you have a pup to raise,"_ the Wolf says, like he doesn't see the problem.

"That's, um," Vex says. That is of course a statement the Wolf would feel perfectly fine about that Vex is considerably less versed in. It's not that she even really minds the idea, as much as it's perplexing; her husband's a wolf, so at least her son would have someone to look up to. It's how Percy's going to feel, because Vex is, ultimately, not the one with the cursed bloodline, even if her bloodline and Percy's have become one. "I think perhaps I need a little more time with this. I- I need to speak to Two-Feet about it."

The Wolf nudges her with his head, gentler than he would normally do it. _"We hunt,"_ he says. _"You and the pup are safe with me."_

"We are not going to get through the next six moons with you treating me like a brood mare," Vex says, but she gets on her broom and kicks off, rising so that she's sitting level with the Wolf's back. Hunting is exactly the thing to take her mind off this. It's too much to deal with right this second.

 _"You have a flying stick to carry you,"_ the Wolf says. _"You can last seven moons."_

"Absolutely not," Vex says, and they are off into the night.

\--

Vex lets it wait until Percy is at breakfast. There are very few ways in which Percy has "let himself go" during their marriage, being by nature a fastidious and careful person. The only time it really comes out, with Vex's encouragement, is the morning after. Percy has always needed some time to put his head back together, let the polish come back after the Wolf rubbed it off; he's just never been allowed it before.

Right now, he's drinking directly from a coffee urn, and Vex is looking at him with such incredible fondness that she can feel it in the center of her chest.

Percy seems, as he often does, to catch himself; he lowers the urn, looks at it quizzically, then sets it down on the table and puts the lid on it. He sighs. "I hope you had a good evening," he says.

"Darling," Vex says, and Percy frowns, knowing her well enough to recognize her distress, even though she thought she was covering it. "There's something we need to talk about."

Percy reaches over and puts his hand over hers. "Of course, dearest."

Vex laces their fingers together, trying to steel herself. "I, it's just- I thought I might be pregnant," she says. "It was just a hunch."

"Alright," Percy says, his face growing more and more concerned.

She shuts her eyes for a moment. "Let me say this next part all at once, or it's going to get weird."

"Go ahead," Percy says.

"Um, I am now almost certain I'm pregnant-" Percy opens his mouth and Vex squeezes his hand in warning- "and if I am, it's, it's like you, and the Wolf says it's his son."

"Ah," Percy says, not an acknowledgement, but a noise of confusion that trails off.

"It's a lot," she says.

"It is," he replies.

"But hey, I'm pregnant," Vex says brightly, trying to salvage it a little.

"Oh, no, I am of course glad about that," Percy says. His expression is turning from confusion to anger, and Vex doesn't know how that's going to go. "And you're sure the Wolf wasn't just saying that?"

"I mean, I went and checked in with a healer before you woke up," she says. "He definitely knew before he was told. He said he could smell it?" Her shoulders slump. "Darling, it's not any stranger than anything else."

"I need to talk to him," Percy says, and Vex's eyes go wide; Percy has never said anything of the sort, has never wanted to be involved with the Wolf at all, even though they're sort of the same person.

"You want to talk to the Wolf?" Vex asks in disbelief.

Percy's jaw sets. "We have a fundamental disagreement over the paternity of my child, and I would like to explain to him why I don't appreciate it."

Vex can tell that Percy isn't going to let this go; this has shattered the fragile truce that Percy and the Wolf have been enjoying since Vex got involved. "Have you ever actually communicated with him?" she asks.

He shrugs. "A few words, here and there."

Vex raises an eyebrow. "Do you know how to get in touch with him?"

"Uh, well, no," Percy admits. "It just sort of happens. I can feel him a little bit right after the change."

"Then how do you propose to hold a summit?" Vex asks.

He looks a little uncomfortable for a moment. "I have sort of an idea?" he says.

"Go on," she says.

"I never told anyone outside the family," Percy says. He hesitates. "I was going to tell Keyleth, but I suppose I got cold feet."

Vex thinks about this, and Percy is still looking at her warily; Vex has no idea why. "I think you're on to something," she says. "If she'll come, I think maybe we need to get her here as soon as possible."

"You won't hear any complaints from me," he says, looking relieved.

Vex kisses his hand. "Finish your breakfast, and we'll get this settled."

"I love you for how you can just say things like that," Percy says.

She takes a deep breath, then lets it out. "One of us has to be an optimist," she says.

"Oh, well, we're all better off that you volunteered," he says. Vex rolls her eyes at him, but it's fond.

\--

Keyleth comes to Whitestone, rather than the other way around; it's much simpler. She looks, of course, not a day older, though the weight of ruling hangs on her. Vex recognizes it; she sees it on herself, and on Cassandra, and even sometimes on Percy, though he's largely content to be a figurehead. 

"Vex!" Keyleth says, pulling her into a tight hug, and some of it seems to drop off of her.

"Keyleth, darling," Vex says, kissing the side of her face.

"It's so good to see you," Keyleth says. She pulls away, and her face goes serious, in a way she never used to look. "But I don't think this is a social call."

"Percy needs to talk to you," Vex says. "He has a lot to explain."

"Okay," Keyleth says, concerned. "Tell me everything."

Vex almost wishes she could avoid being with Percy when he tells Keyleth about the curse, but Percy wants her there. Besides, she knows far more about the Wolf than Percy does; she's known him several years by this point, and Percy has never met him at all. Keyleth listens patiently, with keen eyes. She has her hands folded and resting at the level of her mouth. It's mostly hiding the fact that she looks eager, almost like she thinks this would be fun. Vex knew it would be like this, that Keyleth wouldn't really be able to contain herself.

"And honestly, that's why I wanted you to come," Percy is saying, and Vex is watching Keyleth. She loves Keyleth, but she breaks Percy's heart, Vex won't hesitate.

Keyleth lowers her hands from her face, but what she says is, "Huh. Okay, we can work with this. We'll figure something out."

Vex feels an instant sense of relief, and also regret that she doubted one of her closest friends. It's just been a lot for her, moderating between the Wolf and Percy. Her loyalties aren't divided, exactly, but that doesn't mean she doesn't suspect both of them of wanting her to pick a side. Adding a druid who'd happily become a dire wolf herself to the mix has Vex's head muddled, making it hard to keep this all straight.

"So I think it's not like lycanthropy," Keyleth says. "It's more like wild shape, only you can't control it."

"How so?" Vex asks.

"All those creatures that I become, they're inside of me already," Keyleth explains. "I-" she makes a motion with her hands, like she can't articulate it- "I take them in, and they become part of me. Your wolf form resides in you, then sometimes you become it, like I can."

"Where do I go when the wolf is out?" Percy asks.

"I don't quite know, but it's not like exactly like wild shape, or you'd be in control," Keyleth says. "I think you go inside of him." She moves her fingers, describing a shape like a water wheel. "And then the opposite happens at the end, and he wild shapes into you. It's a cycle."

Percy sighs. "And I'm locked into it."

"Yeah," Keyleth says, wincing.

"Is there-" Percy says, but he stops, thinking. "If I wanted to occupy the same room as the Wolf at the same time, could I do that?"

"Huh," Keyleth says, looking like she's never been presented the thought, because she probably hasn't. "Let me do some research." She nods. "I have an idea."

\--

Keyleth's research takes three weeks, which is very nearly too long for Vex's tastes. She doesn't want to be the one to tell the Wolf about any of this. She would much rather see him next moon and be able to truthfully say that she just didn't have an opportunity to bring any of this to him before it happened.

Because it is, apparently, going to happen.

"You kind of, um," Keyleth says, bringing her fingers together. "There's a place where you and the Wolf touch, like, inside your heads? I'm not doing a very good job of explaining it. It's where the animals go when I'm not wild shaped? Only maybe also you have one? It's complicated. And if I do the right thing I can-" she crosses her wrists- "send you both in? Your body might cease to exist but it'll probably be temporary?" She frowns. "Did that make any sense?"

Percy sighs. "I'll do it," he says, before Vex can stop him, and seeing the look on his face, Vex doesn't stop him

Vex watches fretfully as Keyleth sets up the ritual. She's dragging the end of the Spire in patterns, through the sprinkling of earth she set out around Percy. For his own part, Percy is kneeling, fully dressed except for his coat, and he looks impassive. Vex can tell this is because he's dug in, going to see this through out of sheer frustration and stubbornness.

"Hold this," Keyleth says, and she drops a sapphire as big as Percy's fist into his hands. She continues with her work, drawing one last sweeping line after she steps out of the circle. "I'd step back," she says to Vex, and Vex does.

Keyleth holds the Spire up and starts chanting. Vex staggers back another step as the patterns she traced on the ground burst to life, vibrant green energy that pulses as more noises start to fill the room.

Percy's vision goes dark.

\--

Percy is sitting in a workshop. It's not his workshop, with clock pieces everywhere and little nail puzzles he's made to keep the children occupied. Instead, it's the kind of workshop that doesn't exist, where everything in perfectly, precisely organized; there's not even soot on the walls or the ceilings. It is, Percy realizes quickly, the _ideal_ of a workshop. It is a thing to want, to strive for, but not to have.

The workshop is not terribly wide north to south, assuming Percy is pointing North; the eastern wall is just plain, unpainted stone. The workshop continues on and on and on to the west. First it breaks into bookshelves, full of neatly aligned tomes; then it just keeps going, but the light goes out, like it's being consumed. Percy feels uncomfortable when he looks towards it, so he turns back, looking at the workshop again.

The air has an oddly specific scent that it takes Percy a moment to recognize. It's identical to Vex's hair after she dries it in the sun on the balcony of their rooms. It smells like home, like comfort; it is exactly what a place like this should smell like, something civil and clean and nothing at all like the noise that he can't stop hearing.

This is the last thing that he thinks before everything _happens_. Keyleth's voice bursts through the noise, like she's mastered it, like she's in control of all that animal power. She's speaking in a tongue that Percy doesn't know, the words curling and musical. The words of it get into Percy's head, filling up his senses, until he feels like they're trying to push him apart.

 _You're on your own,_ Keyleth says urgently in Common, with the kind of wincing force that seems so much like her.

Suddenly green vines shoot up all over the stone wall, and Percy jumps back. They dig in and then rip it down all at once, leaving a huge hole, only a few stones remaining around the edges, and the noise disappears entirely. On the other side of the wall, there is a clearing, the ground covered sparsely with moss, and behind that, a forest. To Percy there is nothing unusual about this forest. The ground is mostly bare of brambles, the trees mostly thin and tall; they mingle with fat, heavy oaks and white papertrees, which lead you towards water. There is no sun overhead, but there is starlight and moonlight, so much as to almost make it seem like day.

Percy knows exactly where he is.

He is in the Parchwood. This is the clearing where he goes to undress when it's time. He kind of hates it, that he's been brought here, that this is what exists on the other side of the wall in his carefully curated mind. It's like the barrier is nothing, like they just swap and that's it.

Percy hears the creature before he sees it, the rustling of the leaves. His hand goes to his side, for the pistol he doesn't carry anymore and didn't bring; he considers rushing back into the workshop and finding something to arm himself, though he suspects- hopes- he will find nothing. There's no cover unless he makes for the treeline, but that's not what he came here for. He came here to face this. He came here for answers. That is what's going to happen.

The creature is still approaching, swaying easily through the trees like they're not even there, like they're long-memorized. Percy starts to get a hint of its form, but it doesn't really come into full view until the beast emerges into the clearing. Percy almost takes a step backwards, because it really is a sight. It is an enormous, stark-white wolf, taller than Percy, with keen blue eyes that are staring at him intently. Percy tries, for one longing, desperate moment, to find himself in it, to see how, if he and the Wolf connect.

There is no similarity other than the color of their hair. Even that's not the same; the Wolf has far more of it.

"Two-Feet," the Wolf says, sitting back on its haunches, like Percy presents no threat. Percy has never heard it speak in human language before; it feels deeply strange, but he supposes here, there's no reason they wouldn't understand each other.

"Wolf," Percy says. "Or do you have a name?"

"Our kind do not carry names," the Wolf says.

"Your kind?" Percy says indignantly. "You're a figment of my imagination."

"Do you really believe that, Two-Feet?" the Wolf says. "Do you think you would have this trouble if I did not exist?" Percy sighs, because the Wolf is right, but Percy doesn't have to give it the satisfaction. The Wolf looks past him, peering curiously into Percy's workshop, and Percy wishes he could somehow cover it back up. Looking into the Wolf is letting the Wolf look into him, and perhaps he wasn't as ready for that as he thought.

"Why have you brought me here?" the Wolf asks, though its manner is curious, not accusatory.

"We have matters to discuss," Percy says.

The Wolf snorts. "This is about my pup, isn't it."

"If you mean it's about my son, then yes," Percy says. "You seem to misunderstand my child's paternity."

The Wolf looks unimpressed. "You have human young, Two-Feet." He looks down at Percy, and suddenly Percy realizes he could be moments from being torn limb from limb, if that's a thing that can happen in this place. "I do not care for your jealousy. This one is mine."

"It really isn't," Percy says. "You don't get to claim one of my children just because you live in my head."

"I live in this prison because of you," the Wolf snarls. "You will give me my due or you will regret it, Two-Feet."

"Worse things than you have tried," Percy says.

The Wolf, with stunning speed, lunges towards Percy. He rolls out of the way, landing on his back, and suddenly the List is just in his hand, fully loaded. Percy takes the grip in both hands and aims up at the Wolf, now standing over him.

"Shall we see what happens if we die here?" Percy says, his hands unshaking.

The Wolf stares down at him for a few more seconds before snorting; he turns and walks away, sitting on his haunches again. Percy exhales, then gets to his feet. He hoped the List was gone even from his head, but there it is again. He holds the pepperbox in one hand, its weight familiar and unwanted. If he brought it, he can banish it, so he opens his hand and it evaporates into white smoke.

"A fighter is useless," the Wolf says, in a way that Percy can't help but feel is petty. "The hunter is the only one keeping you and your brood alive."

"That reminds me of another thing we need to talk about," Percy says, and because those are apparently the rules, he waves his hand and a suitable chair appears. He sits down. "I would very much like to know if you have designs on my wife."

If it's possible for a wolf to look puzzled, it does. "The hunter is a human," the Wolf says. "We could not mate."

"Well, there is that," Percy says, feeling a bit stupid.

"I will never take a mate," the Wolf says. "There are no females like us." It leans in. " _You_ must further our bloodline. That is _your_ burden, Two-Feet. Your family made like this. You must multiply, or there will be no more wolves."

"And what if we didn't?" Percy says. "What if I just didn't play your game?"

"You already have offspring, Two-Feet," the Wolf says ominously, lowering its head and staring at him. "You have chosen for our bloodline to continue. Would you undo your children to end our curse?"

"Certainly not," Percy says. He presses his fingers to his temples. "Look, aren't you _tired_ of all this?"

"I do not tire," the Wolf says, which isn't surprising. "But if I could end this, I would in an instant. I live a fragment of a life because of you. Without you, I could hunt forever."

"So what do we do?" Percy says. "You aren't released when I die. I do know that much."

"This is known," the Wolf allows. "You must live if I am to live."

Percy rests his elbow on the arm of his chair and his head on his fist. "Do we care to understand each other?"

"No," the Wolf says.

"Agreed," Percy says. There was a time he would have asked a million questions, but he just doesn't want to know how the Wolf thinks, its insights on the world. Everything he needs he can glean from Vex. He sighs. "The child will be partly like me, do you concur?" The Wolf shifts. "It'll be like you, obviously, I was getting there. But there is something of both of us in this child. That, as much as I would really prefer it not to be this way, means that he is not yours or mine. He is ours."

The Wolf huffs. "You are not wrong."

"We will never have to work together at the same time, because we will never see each other again," Percy says.

"However you got here, don't come back," the Wolf says. "But we will raise the pup this way. The hunter will guide him between us."

"I have no doubt that she will," Percy says. "She deserves more than she gets for putting up with two of us."

"The hunter is strong and useful," the Wolf says. " _You_ would do well to remember that."

Percy didn't come here for marriage advice from the wolf that's trapped in his head, so he doesn't reply. "We are agreed that we are not one entity," he says instead.

"Yes," the Wolf says. "I am cursed with you, and you are cursed with me."

"So that's sorted," Percy says. "But we're just going to have to share an existence, I suppose."

"You will guard our son," the Wolf says fiercely. "Your line has cursed me to live this way. While I am trapped, you will make sure the pup thrives."

"Of course I will," Percy says. "And you will decidedly do the same thing, because if you think I won't let myself be destroyed to destroy someone who harmed my child, you are sadly mistaken."

"Then we are agreed, Two-Feet," the Wolf says, and with that it gets up and walks back into the Parchwood.

Percy walks back through the remnants of the fallen wall, back into the place that feels like his. He walks past the pristine workbench and into the shelves of books. There is an armchair, like he knew there would be, and he sits down.

Then he hyperventilates. A giant beast that he thought only existed in his mind just tried to kill him and then he had to made a custody arrangement with it. He's too old for this shit.

\--

There's a noise like a branch being ripped off a tree, and Percy reappears. He looks the same, except a little dazed and with dirt on his clothes, and the symbols around him suddenly wink out, all at once.

"Percy!" Vex says tearfully, dropping to her knees in front of him and pulling him into her arms. "Darling, are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Percy says. "Your friend says hello."

"Then it worked?" Keyleth says, looking fretful.

"In that I just had a talk with what I always secretly assumed was just a manifestation of trauma?" Percy says. "Yes, it did."

"What did he say?" Vex asks.

"He speaks very highly of you," Percy says. "But maybe you and I need to talk."

"I am not surprised in the least," Vex says.

"I'll clean up," Keyleth says knowingly, and Vex leads Percy away.

\--

And then, as they are wont to do, several more months pass.

Vex, of course, sees the Wolf for the next few moons, though the Wolf thinks anything less than hunting up to the ninth month is just laziness. In fairness, he thought that about Vex's other pregnancies too. The paternity of this one doesn't really seem to be the issue with regards to her ability to hunt.

The baby is born just after the moon, so it is almost a month old when Vex walks into the forest.

Vex has the baby held against her, and she doesn't look as she feels it shifting, hears sounds that make her wince. It starts wriggling, and Vex feels small claws scratching at her arms. Finally a small, furry head pops up out of the fabric, looking at Vex.

It looks about the same as a wolf pup that age, only much heavier in Vex's arms. It doesn't look like its father; the Wolf is a pure, snowy white, but the little pup in her arms is brown. Its eyes are the same arresting blue, and it looks up at her curiously. 

It feels like when she saw her son as a human for the first time, only repeated. She's filled with such a fierce love that it burns in her chest, and she would tear anyone limb from limb who dared to put a single finger on him. She will die protecting this child if she has to, human or wolf.

"Hello, little one," she says gently. "I'm your mama."

The wolf sniffs her, looking so much like its father as it warily tries to figure her out.

"Papa will explain everything," she says, running the backs of her fingers over its coarse fur. "Are you not old enough to talk, or are you just not talking to me?"

It makes a hmph noise and settles into her arms.

"Sassy little thing," she says. "You're going to be too much like your fathers."

She carries the child to the clearing, where she can hear the Wolf pacing back and forth before she even sees him. For him, this has happened differently; for him she was heavily pregnant, and then she was just gone. And now, she's stepping into their clearing, holding a small wolf.

The baby shrinks back against Vex when the Wolf bounds over. He sniffs at the pup, then runs around the clearing and howls. It is easily the least dignified thing Vex has ever seen him do, and Vex is helpless but to laugh.

"Can you howl?" she says to the little wolf. "Can you howl for Mama?" Vex demonstrates, without perhaps the force she could be putting behind it.

The pup has this look like he doesn't know what he's gotten himself into that is all Percy, but he lets out a little noise, sounding more like he's saying "Raah" than howling.

"You'll get there," Vex says, and she takes the sling off and lets the pup down. He pads over and gingerly joins his papa, looking at him warily.

 _"Come, hunter,"_ the Wolf says, indicating with his head. Vex smiles, and she goes.

**Author's Note:**

>  **sabinelagrande:** I didn't expect to come back to this, then it sprang fully formed from my head when I was on a long drive. Blackglass was kind enough to entertain me, and here it is! It is deeply cool, and I was happy to be part of it.
> 
>  **blackglass:** I am delighted to continue the Perc'ahlia Pod-Together tradition with sabine! Sabine also wrote the fake language used for the spell chanting after I was like, uhhhhhhhh how do? Thanks also to Frea_O for making the cover art and to ItsADrizzit for the soundscaping beta! 
> 
> Music: "Wolf Like Me"- [cover by Youthless](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi7sUPh2Q0g)
> 
> Soundscaping credits:  
> 1) [D&D Ambience | Nighttime Forest](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybTXj_OE4-k&t=366s)\- Michael Ghelfi  
> 2) [Animal Sounds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF6McpBnu5A)  
> 3) [D&D Ambience - Night Forest](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3dEOA4giio&t=1109s)\- Sword Coast Soundscapes  
> 4) [Plant growing sound effect](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxLluirEk9w)  
> 5) [Wall crumbling sound effect](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaufO_UgYX8&t=24s)  
> 6) [Brush rustling sounds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y2lnPyAgtk)


End file.
